


Dust & Gold [Pt. 12]

by Sierra_Butterfly



Series: Atlantis [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 07:56:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11573733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sierra_Butterfly/pseuds/Sierra_Butterfly
Summary: Years have passed and the war between good and evil is near its end. But what happens when Ruby Rose is in charge of a mission that could finally tip the scales in their favor? What happens when it all goes horribly wrong? How will she cope?





	Dust & Gold [Pt. 12]

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there, so I'm doing this a bit backwards. This oneshot is actually part 12 in a series of oneshots that span a period of 20+ years. Despite that, everything should be pretty stand alone. (The only thing missing will be backstory and the budding of the Qrow/Ruby relationship)
> 
> Also, in this series, Qrow and Ruby are not related by blood. Likewise, they have never had an uncle/niece relationship due to reasons explained in earlier oneshots (not yet released). 
> 
> This series is a lot more serious than the canon series.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy. Especially once I start putting out the other parts to the series, I'm happy to write any requests to fill in gaps between oneshots. In the meantime I'm open to any unrelated Qrow/Ruby oneshot requests. 
> 
> Also, I apologize if this note is rather erratic. I've been practicing (and taste testing) my bartending skills ;)

****

Dust & Gold’

The stagnant air burned Ruby’s chest, kindling another stab of agony with each inhale while her knees threatened to give out with every passing second. A trail of crimson followed, new stains formed with each drip from her cloak. Some of it was hers, but she suspected most of it was from Hazel and her comrades. Hell, even if it was her own, she found it difficult to care. All of her physical aches and pains were nothing when compared to the wisps of self loathing and guilt coiling low in her belly.

_Focus, Ruby. You’ll be home soon._

Home. The word made bile rise in her throat and it was all she could do to lurch to one side while her stomach emptied itself of its contents. 

Afterwards, the bitter taste in her mouth was catalogued in the back of her mind as just another thing to take care of once she reached Atlantis. For now, she checked her belt, fingers grazing the smooth surface of two scrolls: Hazel’s and her own. 

The cost was far too great: three of her comrades’ lives all for one measly scroll. 

But of course the logical part of her mind knew better. This single scroll was worth hundreds of lives, because this single scroll held the blueprints for each of Salem’s compounds. It could tell them where the last relic was. 

The relic Ozpin needed to kill Salem and her goons once and for all. 

It didn’t make it any easier as her ears echoed with the cries of her fallen comrades. 

Tyko had died first. Then Velvet. Both at Hazel’s hands. 

A moment after the life drained from Velvet’s face, Hazel died. In his distraction, Ruby sliced through the delicate skin of his neck, piercing his aura at the same time. 

There’d been no time to collect the bodies or mourn.

_”What are you doing?” Jaune asked her quietly. Sorrow made his voice shake while weariness left his limbs trembling. “We can take them with us.”_

_Ruby looked down at the scroll in her hands. Small, bloody fingerprints stained the back of it as she tucked it in one of the many pouches lining her belt. She was already halfway out of the room, only turning to set her blonde headed friend with a hard look. “Jaune, we have to go.”_

_“No! We’re safe--”_

_“As the leader of this team, I’m telling you we need to go now.”_

In hindsight, she should have hauled him out of there herself. Five minutes. It was all they needed and they could have escaped. 

But in the five minutes she’d spent arguing with him, the worst had happened. 

Arthur Watts, master interrogator and psychiatrist, got inside Jaune’s head. 

The exact moment was so sickeningly obvious that Ruby nearly threw up again at the memory. In a final display of strength, Jaune looked her in the eyes, blue against her silver. _”Ruby, you have to do it.”_

An aura blast to the chest later, and Ruby was fleeing the compound, desperation and sorrow clawing at her heart. 

_I should have gone alone_ , Ruby thought angrily and turned her tear stricken face to the shattered moon. The pale glow highlighted the red fringe of her black hair, far longer than she had ever let it grow before. 

With a quiet sigh, she tugged her dark hood over her head, seeking the comfort of the shadows as she continued to stagger through the forests, counting the steps until she breached the forest’s clearing. 

_The mission was doomed from the beginning._

As she approached the stone walls of Atlantis she was faced with the eager greeting of a younger man, “Miss Rose!” 

He was a newer recruit, no older than sixteen, but likely fourteen or fifteen. He practically bounced on the balls of his feet, ignorant to the blood caking her body and clothes or the dark emotions twisting dangerously in her core.

Ruby took a deep breath and latched onto the tail end of her patience, clenching her trembling fingers. “I need to see Ozpin.” 

The recruit flinched, something in her tone striking a chord of fear. “I-uh,” he fumbled, his brows pinched together in uncertainty. “It’s awfully late, Miss Rose.” 

“I don’t care,” Ruby glowered, feeling only a little guilty for her sharpness. 

He bobbed his head and swallowed, speaking quickly into his radio before granting her entry. 

Not even ten steps into the city and a fellow huntsman stepped into her path. 

Ironwood. 

The grey headed man glanced around, noting the absence of her teammates, and bowed his head as though to apologize. “If you would rather I can take it to Ozpin.” 

“No.” 

***

It was nearing midnight when the door to Death and Company opened for the third time in the past ten minutes, hookups and people with work the next morning taking their leave after a night of drinking. Except when Qrow spared a glance at the doorway, no one was leaving. 

Instead, a familiar huntress entered, slipping through the crowds with a quiet grace that most would not suspect by looking at her. 

Unmoving, he watched her with an ache in his chest.

Her lithe body was on display, courtesy of the form fitting halter vest that accented the roundness of her breasts. Dark red ribbons criss crossed her lower back, offering teasing glimpses of her milky white skin. A blood red hood pooled at her shoulders, matched by the fringe of her long hair and the edge of her black mini skirt. Her legs were bare save for translucent black leggings, but several new tears managed to leave little to the imagination. 

The huntress’s body was all the men and women ogling her could see, but Qrow recognized the glassy look in her silver eyes. He saw the way her gloved fingers trembled at her sides, and if he concentrated, he could sense the telltale ripple of her aura, confirming his suspicion that she was physically and mentally exhausted. 

Qrow noticed a younger man, no more than twenty, start to make his way over to Ruby, and with a sigh Qroe picked up his glass of bourbon. Like a shadow he crossed the bar, intercepting the civilian with a bit if a growl before settling heavily on the stool next to her. Rather than watch the man slink away, Qrow studied the younger woman out of the corners of his eyes. 

“Shot of tequila,” Ruby ordered softly, unaware of Qrow’s presence. 

“ID?” The bartender asked, lips twisted in a frown when Ruby made no effort to show him one. 

Qroe sighed. _Really?_ Any other night, Qrow would have been happy to see a bartender checking IDs, unaffected by revealing clothing and pretty women. Tonight was not any other night though. 

Before the fair haired man could shoot Ruby down or kick her out, Qrow called him over, pitching his voice low. “Don’t ask questions tonight, just serve her. I’ll watch out for her.” 

The bartender scowled and started to protest but Qrow interrupted him again, giving a curt shake of his head. “She’s a huntress. Just lost her teammates.”

Surprise flickered in his gaze, but without further complaint he poured her a shot, adding a lime wedge before setting it in front of her. “It’s on the house,” he told her with a small nod of respect. 

Ruby murmured her thanks and tipped back the shot, not bothering to chase the burn with the lime. “Qrow,” she greeted with a half-hearted smile.

Qrow held her gaze for a moment, searching their depths to see just how damaged her spirit was. Fear clenched his heart at what he found. “I’ve got you,” he told her, gesturing for another round. 

“Thank you.” 

He nodded once, closing his eyes as her broken tone echoed in his skull. 

***

True to his word, Qrow watched over Ruby, his presence alone doing wonders to scare off any civilians that wandered over to her. He kept track of every drink, cataloguing each stage of drunkenness so she would know her limits in the future. All the while, he wondered what happened to leave her so broken? Because he may have told the bartender she lost her teammates, but that was only a suspicion. 

And yet he feared it was far worse than just losing her teammates, because she had led teams and lost members before. She had sought him out before and they’d indulged in a night of comfort, but this was a new low. 

In his distraction, a young man, no older than twenty, sidled up beside her, forearm pressed against the bar while a toothpick hung from the corner of his mouth. “Hey there, darling.” 

Qrow cursed the man under his breath and got up, placing himself between Ruby and the man. “Leave her alone,” he growled.

In close quarters, Qrow could smell the whiskey clinging to the man’s clothes and his nose crinkled. 

The man sneered. “What are you, her keeper?” His comment garnered a few chortles from his friends at the nearest table, and it was all Qrow could do to hold his temper at bay. “She’s certainly dressed like it--”

“Stop,” Qrow snarled. 

“Or what?”

A dozen threats came to mind, but none of them would do. As much as this punk needed put in his place, it would hardly do for a huntsmen to beat the shit out of a civilian. Especially with the tensions between the civilians and huntsmen already at an apex. It would be even worse if Qrow did it. 

“How much?” the man asked, arching a brow. 

“I killed a man for this city,” Ruby said quietly, interrupting anything Qrow could have said while stumbling off her stool and into Qrow’s back. In a split moment his anger defused and he focused on the unsteady huntress, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Two actually,” she went on, hiccuping as she studied the bastard. “You may maintain this city, grow the food, purify the water...but if it weren’t for huntsmen and huntresses, you’d all be dead in a matter of days.” 

The man laughed. “You all think you’re so grand--”

Whatever the man was about to say was cut off when the bartender’s fist connected with his face. 

Qrow almost laughed, but at the same moment Ruby flinched violently, her elbows digging into his side in her attempt to retreat. Briefly, he nodded his thanks at the bartender and dug some cash from his pocket. “C’mon, Ruby. I think it’s time we go home.”

The younger huntress said nothing, only pressing closer to his side as they weaved through the awestruck crowds.


End file.
